<p>Do "legacy" applicants ever get rejected from boarding schools? It was my belief they did not unless there was something truly amiss. At my child's junior boarding school, several kids with siblings already at the boarding school to which they applied, ALL were accepted, and I can tell you that a few of them were not the sharpest crayons in the box. I guess, in reality, they can't reject them, or else the parents would get mad. But, this kind of bugs me. The acceptance isn't based on the child's ability; more on the fact that he/she has a sibling already at the school. And, it pushes other more qualified applicants out.</p>
<p>Can anyone else weigh in on this? Do you think it's right and fair?</p>
<p>Well, that can’t be generalized. What you observed might be true with schools that are not so selective in the first place and/or rely on tuition to survive, but with the most selective schools, legacy applicants certainly do get rejected.</p>
<p>Yes they do, but generally as a soft reject via a wait list, or else there will be some sort of a call to either pre-prep guidance office or sometime during the process.
Most of these schools were formed for certain populations, with time they have expanded and became much more inclusionary. However what is wrong with an idea that a family will send their offspring to a school for generations (barring a kid being a moron)? Part of an appeal of a BS are the traditions which wouldnt be in place were it not for generations of legacies. Not to mention the physical aspects of a bs, paid for with alumni money.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, siblings and legacies are often rejected at BS. Obviously, being a legacy gives an applicant a bit of an “up” compared to others, but I wouldn’t say much. A student at a HADES school told me that many, many siblings get rejected each year, although everyone fulling expected them to get in.</p>
<p>I also think it depends on the school. I believe there is a difference between legacy by having a parent or grandparent attend, and simply having a sibling attend, which i do not think constitutes legacy. If a family has been fully supporting a school over the years, some schools might be inclined to reward that, IF they believe the applicant can survive academically. That means he/she doesn’t have to be a straight A student or might be somewhat below their ususal standard of admittance. No school wants an unpleasant, cut throat academic evironment -so maybe a few legacy applicants who have middle of the road stats, equalize that environment, and the school preserves a relationship that might benenfit the community as a whole. Win -Win from their perspective.</p>
<p>Does it mean that a more qualified applicant on paper might be denied admission? Probably. Do I think that is fair? It doesn’t matter what I think, it is what it is.</p>
<p>Read the “thick v. thin” thread on this page. The most recent posts are discussing the AO calling legacies (as a courtesy) ahead of March 10 to tell them they have not been accepted. My friend just got such a call (her daughter applied to Exeter). So, in a word, Yes. Legacies definitely get rejected.</p>
<p>i feel like the better the school, the lesser the chance that merely “legacy” would get you in. my friend knows someone whose brother attended a TASO school and his little sister was rejected :/</p>
<p>A couple of anecdotes: Family I’m close to with 2 kids in succession at a GLADCHEMMS school had the third sibling apply; he was waitlisted and chose to go elsewhere. His school record was fine; the waitlisted school told him it didn’t seem that their school was his first choice. Fourth sibling in that family ended up at the same school the third sibling eventually went to. </p>
<p>Same family had two boys denied at the school their grandfather went to.</p>
<p>Deerfield legacy family child waitlisted; eventually got in and attended. Sibling is awaiting decision M10.</p>
<p>On another note, though it was looking great for my ds to apply as a legacy to his father’s school, he ended up not applying b/c it wasn’t the right fit.</p>
<p>Conclusion: I think it still has to be a pretty good fit for a legacy.</p>
<p>it also depends what kind of legacy… like, if one parent went there and didn’t donate to the school after graduation, as opposed to a four generation legacy where 6, maybe even 7 figures of donations are involved… they’re obviously weighed differently.</p>
<p>anyway, as ylaxw said, “the better the school, the lesser the chance that merely “legacy” would get you in”. i agree, but neither of us are admissions officers so this merely speculation :)</p>
<p>I have often wondered how much interview impacts legacy kids chances. We are the first in family to apply to private school and my kid and I noticed at many schools at the interview the legacy kids are welcomed with a lot of fanfare and treated with kid gloves, my kid and I joked how we were just applicant number 1326 from public school 21. The legacy kids we saw were interviewed by admissions faculty or AO, at the larger schools we got teachers that were helping with interview overload. Since the interview is such a big part of the process it seems legacy kids get an advantage with an friendly AO, maybe the glowing interview makes up for lackluster grades. I am sure legacy parents are all over who is interviewing kid and to have music teacher versus AO they would be upset. At least the ones we saw, the tension in some of the legacy familes in the waiting area was palpable, some parents still coaching kid 2 minutes before interview, discussing kid while they were in the interview, pouncing on kid to see how interview went after AO left. I could see these parents being devestated with a reject letter.</p>
<p>Legacies used to have the edge because the feeling was that it increased alumni donations. Now studies show it doesn’t really have a great bearing - so being legacy is less of a pull. They have to compete with everyone else.</p>
<p>It happens more than you think and March 10th consists of Adcoms on the phone all day talking to scores of alum whose children were turned down.</p>
<p>And frankly - I think that’s probably a good thing. When I was at Exeter legacy kids were under more pressure to perform. Or were there not because they wanted to be but because multiple generations of graduates dictated they be. I kind of like that my daughter has her “own” school and her own memories. I get to see BS fresh instead of through the lens of alumni baggage and memories attached.</p>
<p>DC is a legacy applicant, and we have a strong connection to the Admissions Office at the school involved. We have heard nothing since the application was completed. I do consider it a favorable indicator that we have NOT received the letdown call. Given our rapport with the office, I think they would be doing this for us, but they are abiding by the TSAO agreement and giving us no inside information. Nonetheless, as Exie points out, DC may well decide on another choice, although qualifications certainly put her strongly in the thick of the candidate pool.</p>
<p>Out of the four schools to which applications have been submitted, DC is a legacy at one and a sibling at another. In the last 24 hours I’ve jumped every time the phone rang. Last night we got two calls.</p>
<p>Call #1-“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sue22, this is John Doe and I’d like to talk to you about…(Sue22 goes into panic mode. “John Doe, I know that name; is he the head of development at Legacy School? The Assistant Head? Aughh!”)…an interview for [minor local honor].” Sue22 starts breathing again and comes close to passing out due to blood rushing back into her brain.</p>
<p>Call #2-“Hello, Sue22, this is Jim Smith, a trustee at Sibling School… (Sue22 thinks, “Well here it is, but CR@P, DC’s backup school!? Who did we p!ss off?! What if DC is rejected everywhere?”)…and I’d like to ask you about serving on a committee to…” Sue22 starts babbling, undoubtedly leaving trustee thinking “What kind of m0r0n did I just ask to help us?”</p>
<p>I thing I should just stop answering the phone.:)</p>
<p>I just got the letter confirming SYA and I have to tell you, I had post traumatic stress syndrome pulling that envelope out of the mailbox. I don’t think I could go through the whole BS thing again.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone. Don’t answer the phone!</p>
<p>Enjoyed Sue and Exies stories. We’ll be doing this sooner than we think for colleges. I hope the BS process has broken me in a little by then. Anyway, I’ll look forward to read your enjoyable posts in the college forum
Good luck, I hope M10 brings good news to all of you.</p>
<p>I just want to report that earlier today, I sent a fellow CC’er an email agonizing over the fact that, with a day and a half yet to go, I was now terrified of answering the phone. This CCer, who shall go unnamed (but you know who you are!!!), responded to my email with a friendly and sympathetic gesture: she called me!</p>
<p>I am now disconnecting my telephone.</p>
<p>(Thank you, Sue22, for letting me know that I am not alone!)</p>
<p>We just received this e-mail from my husband’s alma mater:</p>
<p>Admission decisions will be available on line on Thursday morning. As the news that will be delivered is likely to be disappointing and in deference to your connection to Perfect Boarding School, I will extend to you an opportunity to preview your child’s admission decision. I will be available by phone for most of the day tomorrow. Please feel free to call me on my direct line at XXX. If the line is busy, leave a message or please try the main number at XXX. I will be in the office on March 10th and 11th as well.</p>
<p>BTW, our child had good SSAT scores total 2238, Percentile 96; GPA of 3.8 at a rigorous independent private school and good ECs and my husband has donated to his alma mater for over 30 years. Go figure! Maybe DC wrote about harming small animals in the essay? JK!</p>
